Muslim women: "With women's swimming, we focus on our own well-being"

Two qualitative studies show that Muslim women experience women's swimming with Lifeguard certification as a free space where they develop belonging, well-being and joy in movement.

The public and political debate led, among other things, to Hussar City Council issuing a ban on gender-segregated swimming during public opening hours in the municipality's swimming halls.

The ban had the consequence that a Saturday session of women's swimming in Geller, which was visited by women of various ethnic backgrounds, including ethnically  women, was shut down, while women's swimming that is organized under the auspices of associations outside public opening hours had to continue.

The focal point for the political debate about women's swimming was  integration (see debate examples here and here ).

However, it was striking that the voice of Muslim women was almost absent from the debate.

A heterogeneous group of Muslim women

The study was structured as an ethnographically inspired field study and resulted in two studies (see them here and here ).

We started by establishing contact with and interviewing board members and lifeguards in ten associations in Hussar that offered women's swimming.

Based on visits and interviews in these ten associations, we selected two associations that represented the range between ethnic- and multi-ethnic associations, which we followed for a period of two months.

The field studies included participating in swimming with the women (from changing to sauna). This allowed us to conduct informal conversations and recruit a heterogeneous group of Muslim women for interviews (see fact box).

We conducted 15 in-depth interviews with these women about their motivation for participating - and their experiences with gender-segregated swimming, as well as their everyday life, family and free time.

A woman was interviewed with an interpreter; a woman in English; all other interviews took place in 

Subsequently, we analyzed the interview transcripts and field notes using thematic analysis, which seeks to find patterns across the data material. This analysis led to the identification of several themes, which we now describe in the next sections.

The body at the center: joy rather than weight loss

Many of the women who participate in women's swimming have work-related injuries and illnesses such as depression and osteoarthritis, as well as chronic pain in the shoulders, hips, etc.

Often it was their doctor who had recommended them to take part in swimming. The interviewees described that the water and heat in the sauna helped their sore muscles and joints.

Success experiences in swimming

Many women described a life that revolved around their families - at the cost of forgetting to think about themselves

"When I'm in the water, when I'm swimming, I don't think about anyone but myself. This is my time, here I pay attention to me and my body and how I feel. I feel free, I feel happy. […] I look forward to coming every week. Swimming makes me feel better, physically and mentally.'

The women who had first learned to swim as adults portrayed swimming as a great personal challenge, which nevertheless led to experiences of success and increased self-confidence. For others, swimming was associated with developing belonging to Denmark, a country surrounded by water.

A safe women's room

The vast majority of women we met at women's swimming emphasized that it was crucial for them that the swimming took place in a gender-segregated environment, otherwise they would not be able to participate in swimming.

According to them, it was forbidden in Islam to swim with men. At the same time, however, they emphasized that it was their own religious conviction and that they themselves had chosen to go to women's swimming with Universal Certificate.